The 'good' war in Kosovo

Charles R. Smith is a noted investigative journalist. For over 20 years, Smith has covered areas of national security and information warfare. He frequently appears on national television for the Fox network and is a popular guest on radio shows all over America.

There is no such thing as a good war. The war in Kosovo is being
portrayed as a “good” war. The Clinton and Blair propaganda machine is
spinning the killing in Kosovo as if it were some crusade to save lives.

The only real images from the war in Europe were of U.S. planes
killing innocent civilians, including Kosovar refugees. The TV set was
filled with bodies blown to pieces by American airpower. The Clinton
spin is that such things always happen in war, and that even if they
were innocent women and children it was a “good thing” because we are
there to save them.

Where was the “good thing” spin when American viewers were treated to
a naked and burned Vietnamese child, running away from a napalmed
village? I don’t recall the term “ethnic cleansing” being applied to the
hill people of Vietnam, staunch U.S. allies in combat, who were erased
by the genocide of the North Vietnamese Army.

I do recall the wife of Ted Turner playing games with a communist
anti-aircraft gun and NVA soldiers for the cameras. CNN missed that
photo in their review of the Vietnam War history. CNN is leading the
hysteria brigade to put ground troops in Kosovo, so where are you now,
Jane Fonda?

Clinton has no plan for victory, no plan for the refugees, no plan
for peace and no plan for war. There were several logical alternative
solutions. Clinton chose to ignore them all. The ultimate “come as you
are” combat with the impulsive child-like “just do it” leader.

Clinton’s war in Kosovo will cost at least $8 billion, wreaking havoc
on the U.S. economy and sucking up the lives of a generation for yet
another useless war abroad. If we had offered $800 million to Milosevic
for all of Kosovo, the fat communist might have taken the money and
called us “suckers.”

If we had spent $800 million arming the Maoist heroin smugglers that
portray themselves as the Kosovar Liberation Army (KLA) then Milosevic
would be fighting for his life in the streets of Belgrade.

Clinton’s “McWar” in Kosovo is in his classic Waco-kid style. Bomb
Kosovo to save Kosovo. Burn the women and children alive to keep them
from being abused by that mean old bad guy. Create the crisis and then
rush in (with cameras rolling) to solve the crisis.

Clinton chose the red button and hurled our war machine into action
with the casual air of swatting a fly in the Oval office. He has become
the poster boy for the very same “bomb happy” policy for which the
liberal Democratic Party lambasted Republican Presidents Reagan and
Bush.

Yet, President Bush let the professional soldiers win the Gulf war.
The real pros, the entire force of Desert Storm, from the Generals at
the top to the private in the foxhole, dismembered the Iraqi army and
won the day. Liberals disliked the Gulf war because it was about “oil.”
Liberals love this decade’s booming U.S. economy, which certainly would
not have taken place if Saddam had driven the price to $500 a barrel.

President Reagan built the force of professionals that fought the
Gulf War. Reagan won the Cold War with his brilliant defense budgets
that drove the Soviet Union onto the dustheap of history. It was Reagan
who saved the free world and his forces have protected us since his last
day in office.

Today, the boy President Clinton is destroying the legacy of Ronald
Reagan by dismantling the very force that won the Cold War. Today, we
can’t fight a two-bit version of Marshal Tito.

Clinton is re-living the legacy of Lyndon Johnson in Vietnam. He has
micro-managed the war and is picking targets. Clinton is not schooled in
the art of war, nor is his hand-picked staff. Clinton’s DOD Secretary
Cohen resembles a half-pint version of former Defense Secretary
McNamara, reciting phrases that he can hardly utter with a straight
face. Clinton has wasted million dollar missiles on the wrong targets
and endangered the lives of American soldiers with wasted missions.

However, the war in Europe serves Mr. Clinton politically. Clinton,
true to form, split the conservatives with a single masterstroke.
Republicans hate communists like Milosevic, thus bombing seems okay by
conservative ideology. Other Republicans dislike the Clinton
“Monica-Storm” style.

Moreover, the DNC benefits greatly from the Kosovo war. Clinton has
already played the “race card” with the “ethnic cleansing” hungry media,
comparing his Republican opponents to Milosevic.

Nightly TV images of white, European refugees play Clinton’s white
European liberal base like a finely tuned violin. Clearly, the bleeding
heart liberal Kosovo war has far greater appeal to bleeding heart
liberals (with money) than similar activities to save Africans or
Asians.

However, Clinton is both careless and shallow. Clinton played golf
while bombs fell on Belgrade. Clinton raised over $1 million at a DNC
fund-raiser and then visited the family of one of the POWs in Serbia.
The callous combination of fore, flag, family and DNC fundraisers is
enough to bring tears. Tears of joy for the corrupt DNC fundraising
machine and tears of rage to honest Americans.

The DNC ploys of race and war are designed to fill the coffers of a
weak Al Gore. Perhaps the plan is for Al Gore to oversee the “peace”
talks or get the Russians to help settle a Serbian deal. Gore would look
good for the 2000 elections and the Russians would look good for their
next billion-dollar pay-off from the U.S. taxpayer. Clearly, such a Gore
event would be staged since the Vice President would have to burn fossil
fuels to fly to Europe.

Do you remember “it’s the economy, stupid”? The Kosovo war is going
to cost. The so-called budget surplus is gone, eaten by the “good war”
in Kosovo.

The retired can kiss their Social Security increases goodbye. The
Republicans can forget about any tax cut. Clinton’s call up of
reservists is already rippling through economic markets like an
earthquake. The price of gas has been driven up by NATO jets burning
tons of fuel over the skies of Kosovo. The world economy was already
braced for a slight downturn simply because of the Y2K event. We will
now face tougher times ahead, thanks to Clinton’s “good war.” We may
even face a tax hike.

However, the Kosovo war has not been so good for U.S. foreign
relations. Remember our “buddies” the Russians and our “strategic
partner,” Communist China? Relations with Russia have descended into
Cold War status and China portrays Clinton as Hitler in their press.
Beijing may have to allow the first open demonstrations since Tiananmen
Square. Anti-American demonstrations backed by the communist government.

The war, however, did manage to drive that pesky little Chinagate
scandal out of the media spotlight. Even if Beijing does compare Clinton
to Hitler — so what? First, it’s in Chinese so Clinton’s donor base
won’t care and, more importantly, the U.S. Senate is not calling him to
testify about China.

Stand by for the next CNN poll question: Do you support re-instating
the draft? Is Gen-X prepared to fight and die in the hills of Eastern
Europe? Clinton waved his finger at us and said he would not put ground
troops in Kosovo. The finger wave is Clinton’s prime routine so expect
troops any time now. Soccer moms are you prepared to send your sons and
daughters into Kosovo to save KLA Private Ryanskokz?

Clinton’s last twenty months in office are going to be a rocky ride
for America. The impeached lame duck, so recently held in “contempt” by
a Federal Judge, will add Kosovo next to his name in the history books.
Clinton is no LBJ, JFK, Nixon — nor can he be rightly compared to Adolf
Hitler. Clinton is now engaged in a personal crusade to save his
historic legacy with a “good” little war. … No matter how many lives
it costs.